Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements

The RAS-MAPK system plays an important role in regulating various cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and transformation. Dysregulation of this system has been implicated in genetic diseases and cancers affecting diverse tissues. To better understand the regulation of t...

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Main Authors: Nobuhisa Umeki, Yoshiyuki Kabashima, Yasushi Sako
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2025-03-01
Series:eLife
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Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/104432
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author Nobuhisa Umeki
Yoshiyuki Kabashima
Yasushi Sako
author_facet Nobuhisa Umeki
Yoshiyuki Kabashima
Yasushi Sako
author_sort Nobuhisa Umeki
collection DOAJ
description The RAS-MAPK system plays an important role in regulating various cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and transformation. Dysregulation of this system has been implicated in genetic diseases and cancers affecting diverse tissues. To better understand the regulation of this system, we employed information flow analysis based on transfer entropy (TE) between the activation dynamics of two key elements in cells stimulated with EGF: SOS, a guanine nucleotide exchanger for the small GTPase RAS, and RAF, a RAS effector serine/threonine kinase. TE analysis allows for model-free assessment of the timing, direction, and strength of the information flow regulating the system response. We detected significant amounts of TE in both directions between SOS and RAF, indicating feedback regulation. Importantly, the amount of TE did not simply follow the input dose or the intensity of the causal reaction, demonstrating the uniqueness of TE. TE analysis proposed regulatory networks containing multiple tracks and feedback loops and revealed temporal switching in the reaction pathway primarily responsible for reaction control. This proposal was confirmed by the effects of an MEK inhibitor on TE. Furthermore, TE analysis identified the functional disorder of a SOS mutation associated with Noonan syndrome, a human genetic disease, of which the pathogenic mechanism has not been precisely known yet. TE assessment holds significant promise as a model-free analysis method of reaction networks in molecular pharmacology and pathology.
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spelling doaj-art-3cfd05d33dbd4ee2ace807d74c5d43192025-08-20T03:02:05ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-03-011410.7554/eLife.104432Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurementsNobuhisa Umeki0Yoshiyuki Kabashima1Yasushi Sako2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5707-5455Cellular Informatics Laboratory, RIKEN, Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako, JapanInstitute for Physics of Intelligence, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan; Trans-Scale Quantum Science Institute, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, JapanCellular Informatics Laboratory, RIKEN, Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako, JapanThe RAS-MAPK system plays an important role in regulating various cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and transformation. Dysregulation of this system has been implicated in genetic diseases and cancers affecting diverse tissues. To better understand the regulation of this system, we employed information flow analysis based on transfer entropy (TE) between the activation dynamics of two key elements in cells stimulated with EGF: SOS, a guanine nucleotide exchanger for the small GTPase RAS, and RAF, a RAS effector serine/threonine kinase. TE analysis allows for model-free assessment of the timing, direction, and strength of the information flow regulating the system response. We detected significant amounts of TE in both directions between SOS and RAF, indicating feedback regulation. Importantly, the amount of TE did not simply follow the input dose or the intensity of the causal reaction, demonstrating the uniqueness of TE. TE analysis proposed regulatory networks containing multiple tracks and feedback loops and revealed temporal switching in the reaction pathway primarily responsible for reaction control. This proposal was confirmed by the effects of an MEK inhibitor on TE. Furthermore, TE analysis identified the functional disorder of a SOS mutation associated with Noonan syndrome, a human genetic disease, of which the pathogenic mechanism has not been precisely known yet. TE assessment holds significant promise as a model-free analysis method of reaction networks in molecular pharmacology and pathology.https://elifesciences.org/articles/104432RAS/MAPK systemsignal processingsingle-cell analysistransfer entropy
spellingShingle Nobuhisa Umeki
Yoshiyuki Kabashima
Yasushi Sako
Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements
eLife
RAS/MAPK system
signal processing
single-cell analysis
transfer entropy
title Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements
title_full Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements
title_fullStr Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements
title_short Evaluation of information flows in the RAS-MAPK system using transfer entropy measurements
title_sort evaluation of information flows in the ras mapk system using transfer entropy measurements
topic RAS/MAPK system
signal processing
single-cell analysis
transfer entropy
url https://elifesciences.org/articles/104432
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AT yoshiyukikabashima evaluationofinformationflowsintherasmapksystemusingtransferentropymeasurements
AT yasushisako evaluationofinformationflowsintherasmapksystemusingtransferentropymeasurements